9 comments

  1. Yes! And number 11 would be: Sneak off to Texas when you get in trouble with the law.

  2. Been their done that father was adopted out at 5 yrs old looking up his blood kin for yrs where he & who we are been everywhere know the feeling

  3. no.12, ancestor may have been adopted, some sources say yes, some say no, some say his mom just remarried when he was young and might have have taken the new dad’s name or refused to take the new dad’s name – “we really are not sure”.

  4. I think I’ve hit all of these at one time or another. What frustrates us today is much of the spelling in the 19th century. Standardization wasn’t the case. Within one family, the family name may be spelled differently between different branches- Lonnergan, Lonergan, Lanagan or Teal, Teel, Teele. An individual may show up on 3 censuses by 3 different names with an age difference of +/- 2 years. Different people in the same family may say their father was born in as many as 3 different places. If it weren’t so confusing, it wouldn’t be fun.

  5. Oh yes, been there, seen that. I always say genealogy is a lot like looking for gold, turn over enough rocks, you find a nugget.

  6. Yep, all the above and more.Been doing this very thing since I was 14. Old now so I may never know.

  7. And use the same names over and over. Brother Enoch had sons Able and Enoch… Brother Able had sons Able and Enoch…..etc

    1. This is my favorite! It was my ancestor’s favorite for many generations!

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